Tire and Scrap event is just plain good for the environment

Volunteers, residents, and town and village officials from Owego collaborated again for the annual tire and scrap metal cleanup, held on Saturday, May 22 at the Town Hall in Owego. At the cleanup event, over 1,500 tires were recycled and kept out of the local environment. 

According to town officials, the event not only saved local residents money on disposal, but it also helped keep the drinking water safe and maintain the aesthetic quality of the area. 

“It’s that kind of town where everyone helps each other out,” said Joann Lindstrum, planning and zoning administrator for the Town of Owego, adding, “And everyone knew each other that was coming through and they were saying hi to each other. That is what kind of (area) this is, everyone knows each other and it was a really nice event.” 

With a limit of eight tires recycled for free per person, Lindstrom said that roughly 1,500 tires in total were collected. 

“That’s about [right] for an average year,” said Lindstrom. 

Paid for by the town, the location of the event shifts between the town and the village, with different highway departments helping out depending on the location. 

“The town highway department helped us this year, but last year the village did all the public works. It is a collaborative effort that goes back and forth between village and town,” Lindstrom added. 

Scrap metal was also collected, but Lindstrom said it was impossible for her to guess exactly how much was taken in. 

“We did not get that much metal, and I don’t even want to guess how much because I will be wrong, but it was a good amount of metal. It’s great for people to clean out their basements and garages, nice for one stop drop off,” said Lindstrom. 

While held only once a year, the recycling event serves multiple important purposes locally. 

“It’s huge in keeping the good water quality,” said Lindstrom, adding, “It is also important because it helps with keeping our code enforcement efforts, which is also my office, and because it is helpful to keep yards clean. [Discarded tires] also breed mosquitoes when left around and it helps people save money.” 

Beyond the health threat of discarded tires, which can affect both drinking quality and promote disease through the over breeding of mosquitoes, keeping the river’s edge clear of debris is important for preventing flooding. 

“This is great in case of a flood, because trash near the river [can accumulate in certain areas] and create a huge problem that exacerbates flooding, so it is good to keep the river banks clean as well,” explained Lindstrom. 

The event is so successful that Lindstrom said local officials are actively working to see if it is possible to hold a similar event only for electronics. 

“We are in some discussions, preliminary mind you, to have an electronics recycling event. This would be helpful because we have to drive all the way to Best Buy (to properly dispose of electronics) and if you have an old TV it can be very tempting to just throw it in the trash when the alternative is to drive to Vestal,” Lindstrom said.